Method and system for mapping to facilitate dispatching

ABSTRACT

A method at a server for container location verification within a container yard, the method including requesting image data from at least one image sensor apparatus affixed to a container within the container yard; receiving the image data; and processing the image data to identify a location of a target container.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to shipping or trailer yards, and inparticular relates to the finding of a particular shipping container ortrailer within such yards.

BACKGROUND

Shipping yards may be massive, covering many acres of land. Further, inyards such as rail yards, trailer yards or shipping yards, the yards mayshift over time. They may overflow into adjacent areas, fields orparking lots. They may also shrink. Yards may grow out or up, and theymay “move” over time, for example into lanes and alleys, parkinglocations may drift among other challenges.

One issue in managing yards of trailers or containers is locating thesuitable trailer for the next load. Typically, yard managers know whichtrailers are empty or full based on yard location or memory, and theymay direct a shunt driver to obtain an empty or full trailer and deliverit to the front of the yard to be ready for transport.

A shunt vehicle is basically a vehicle that can pick up a trailer orcontainer and pull it or carry it to the front of the yard for dispatch.

One issue is that, upon being instructed to shunt a trailer orcontainer, the target is often not at its specified location.Furthermore, location technologies such as GPS can be inaccurate by 10,100 or even 1000 meters, depending on signal strength and power use ofthe GPS receiver.

If a shunt vehicle is dispatched to a location incorrectly, it may wastetime. In the real world, in many cases the driver of the shunt vehiclecan spend 15 to 30 minutes searching for a container or radioing backfor a lost container. Further, for future autonomous vehicles, incorrectdispatching of such vehicle wastes fuel energy, adds traffic to the yardas well as wasting time for other dispatching jobs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will be better understood with reference to thedrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of shippingcontainers in a container yard;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example image sensor apparatus capableof being used with the embodiments herein;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing communications between servers andshipping containers;

FIG. 4 is a process diagram showing an example process at an imagesensor apparatus for capturing and transmitting image data;

FIG. 5 is a process diagram showing and example process at a server forreceiving and processing image data to create a dynamic map of acontainer yard;

FIG. 6 is a process diagram showing an example process at an imagesensor apparatus for capturing and transmitting image data prior todispatch of a shunt vehicle;

FIG. 7 is a process diagram showing an example process at a server forrequesting and processing image data from a target shipping container;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example map of image sensorapparatuses within a container yard;

FIG. 9 is a process diagram showing an example process at a server forrequesting and processing image data from image sensor apparatuses neara target shipping container; and

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example simplified computing devicethat may be used with the embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure provides a method at a server for containerlocation verification within a container yard, the method comprising:requesting image data from at least one image sensor apparatus affixedto a container within the container yard; receiving the image data; andprocessing the image data to identify a location of a target container.

The present disclosure further provides a server configured forcontainer location verification within a container yard, the servercomprising: a processor; and a communications subsystem, wherein theserver is configured to: request image data from at least one imagesensor apparatus affixed to a container within the container yard;receive the image data; and process the image data to identify alocation of a target container.

The present disclosure further provides a computer readable medium forstoring instruction code, which when executed by a processor of a serverconfigured for container location verification within a container yardcause the server to: request image data from at least one image sensorapparatus affixed to a container within the container yard; receive theimage data; and process the image data to identify a location of atarget container.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, methods andsystems are provided for using asset tracking devices to confirm trailerlocation before dispatching shunt vehicles or drivers. Such assetstracking devices may include a camera to provide visual confirmation ofcontainer location.

Specifically, the present disclosure provides for the use of an imagesensor apparatus affixed to trailers or shipping containers to create anetwork of cameras within the container yard, and then use the networkof cameras to validate the locations of containers before dispatch. Suchembodiments work even if not every container is equipped with such imagesensor apparatus. As provided below, even if a penetration is relativelylow, such as 10%, since such asset tracking devices may be spread acrossthe yard there are many potential cameras that can be used to try andobtain the actual view of the target container.

Further, in accordance with the embodiments described below,supplemental information such as the location of the image sensorapparatus, compass direction of the field of view of the image sensorapparatus, among other information, may be combined with captured imagesin some cases.

Captured images may be provided to a central station in which either ahuman or computer can then determine if the trailer in question isactually at its anticipated location. The captured image may be from thetrailer of interest, or may be from surrounding trailers. If humanprocessing is used, the image from the image data may be provided on auser interface. If machine processing is used, optical scanning may beused to read information from containers within the image. Suchinformation may include license plates, identifier information writtenon the trailers, colors of trailers, or other identifying information.

Utilizing the embodiments above, the shunt vehicle is only dispatched toa location after a confirmation is made that the trailer or container iswhere it is expected, thereby saving resources for the yard management.

In accordance with further embodiments, if a container is not locatedwhere it is expected, a search for the container can be expanded byobtaining images from other image capture apparatuses in the containeryard. The search for the container may utilize an expanding network ofimage sensor apparatuses, for example, until the container is found.

Such embodiments are described in more detail below.

Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which shows a simplified environment ofa storage yard 110. Storage yard 110 includes a plurality of shippingcontainers 120. In some cases, the shipping containers 120 may be withina fenced area 130. However, due to the dynamic nature of the shippingyard, some containers, shown with reference 122, are outside of thefenced area 130. Further, in many cases storage yard 110 may simply betoo big to have a fenced area 130.

Fixed infrastructure points within the storage yard 110 may exist. Forexample, a building 140 or a fixed structure 150 such as a lamppost,security pole, or crane, among other options, may exist within thestorage yard 110.

Shipping containers 120 or 122 may be placed in rows, or stacked, orsimply deposited in an empty location.

In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a dynamic anddistributed image capture system is provided. In particular, in oneembodiment, a subset of containers 120 or 122 may have associatedtherewith an image sensor apparatus that can be triggered to start orstop capturing images and communicate the results to a centralizedserver.

Such image sensor apparatus may, in some embodiments, be a power limiteddevice, such as a battery-operated device, to allow the system to bedeployed without a fixed power supply. However, because the imagecapture device is power limited, it cannot continuously capture imageswithout quickly draining the battery or otherwise taxing the powersource.

In one embodiment, the image sensor apparatus uses fleet managementtracking devices on the shipping containers 120 or 122. Specifically, inmany instances shipping containers or truck trailers are equipped withsensors that may have communication capabilities and provide informationabout such shipping container or trailer. For example, the sensors mayprovide temperature readings, location readings through a positioningsystem such as the global positioning system (GPS), vibration sensors,accelerometers, gyroscopes, among other sensor information.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a camera may be added tosuch tracking device. In a further embodiment, an image captureapparatus may be provided as a standalone solution, outside of anytracking system.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which shows an example image sensorapparatus 210. Image sensor apparatus can be any computing device ornetwork node. Such computing device or network node may include any typeof electronic device, including but not limited to, mobile devices suchas smartphones or cellular telephones. Examples can further includefixed or mobile devices, such as internet of things devices, endpoints,home automation devices, medical equipment in hospital or homeenvironments, inventory tracking devices, environmental monitoringdevices, energy management devices, infrastructure management devices,vehicles or devices for vehicles, fixed electronic devices, amongothers.

Image sensor apparatus 210 comprises a processor 220 and at least onecommunications subsystem 230, where the processor 220 and communicationssubsystem 230 cooperate to perform the methods of the embodimentsdescribed herein. Communications subsystem 230 may, in some embodiments,comprise multiple subsystems, for example for different radiotechnologies.

Communications subsystem 230 allows device 210 to communicate with otherdevices or network elements. Communications subsystem 230 may use one ormore of a variety of communications types, including but not limited tocellular, satellite, Bluetooth™, Bluetooth™ Low Energy, Wi-Fi, wirelesslocal area network (WLAN), near field communications (NFC), Zigbee,wired connections such as Ethernet or fiber, among other options.

As such, a communications subsystem 230 for wireless communications willtypically have one or more receivers and transmitters, as well asassociated components such as one or more antenna elements, localoscillators (LOs), and may include a processing module such as a digitalsignal processor (DSP). As will be apparent to those skilled in thefield of communications, the particular design of the communicationsubsystem 230 will be dependent upon the communication network orcommunication technology on which the image sensor apparatus is intendedto operate.

Processor 220 generally controls the overall operation of the imagecapture device 210 and is configured to execute programmable logic,which may be stored, along with data, using memory 240. Memory 240 canbe any tangible, non-transitory computer readable storage medium,including but not limited to optical (e.g., CD, DVD, etc.), magnetic(e.g., tape), flash drive, hard drive, or other memory known in the art.

Alternatively, or in addition to memory 240, image sensor apparatus 210may access data or programmable logic from an external storage medium,for example through communications subsystem 230.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, image sensor apparatus 210 may utilize aplurality of sensors, which may either be part of image sensor apparatus210 in some embodiments or may communicate with sensor apparatus 210 inother embodiments. For internal sensors, processor 220 may receive inputfrom a sensor subsystem 250.

Examples of sensors in the embodiment of FIG. 2 include a positioningsensor 251, a vibration sensor 252, a temperature sensor 253, one ormore image sensors 254, accelerometer 255, light sensors 256, gyroscopicsensors 257, and other sensors 258. Other sensors may be any sensor thatis capable of reading or obtaining data that may be useful for imagesensor apparatus 210. However, the sensors shown in the embodiment ofFIG. 2 are merely examples, and in other embodiments different sensorsor a subset of sensors shown in FIG. 2 may be used.

Communications between the various elements of image sensor apparatus210 may be through an internal bus 260 in one embodiment. However, otherforms of communication are possible.

Image sensor apparatus 210 may be affixed to any fixed or portableplatform. For example, image sensor apparatus 210 may be affixed toshipping containers, rail cars, truck trailers, truck cabs in oneembodiment. In other embodiments, image sensor apparatus 210 may beaffixed to any vehicle, including motor vehicles (e.g., automobiles,cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, etc.), aircraft (e.g., airplanes,unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned aircraft systems, drones,helicopters, etc.), spacecraft (e.g., spaceplanes, space shuttles, spacecapsules, space stations, satellites, etc.), watercraft (e.g., ships,boats, hovercraft, submarines, etc.), railed vehicles (e.g., trains andtrams, etc.), and other types of vehicles including any combinations ofany of the foregoing, whether currently existing or after arising, amongothers. As used herein, a container can include any shipping container,rail car, truck trailer, truck cab or vehicle.

In other cases, image sensor apparatus 210 could be carried by a user.

In other cases, sensor apparatus 210 may be affixed to stationaryobjects including buildings, lamp posts, fences, cranes, among otheroptions.

Such sensor apparatus 210 may be a power limited device. For exampleimage sensor apparatus 210 could be a battery operated device that canbe affixed to a shipping container or trailer in some embodiments. Otherlimited power sources could include any limited power supply, such as asmall generator or dynamo, a fuel cell, solar power, among otheroptions.

In other embodiments, sensor apparatus 210 may utilize external power,for example from the engine of a tractor pulling the trailer, from aland power source for example on a plugged in recreational vehicle orfrom a building power supply, among other options.

External power may further allow for recharging of batteries to allowthe sensor apparatus 210 to then operate in a power limited mode again.Further, recharging methods may also include other power sources, suchas, but not limited to, solar, electromagnetic, acoustic, or vibrationcharging.

Referring again to FIG. 1, if the sensor apparatus 210 from FIG. 2 isaffixed to a plurality of the shipping containers 120 then a dynamicnetwork for the capturing of images may be created as described below.Specifically, assuming that the image sensor apparatus 210 is installedon a number of cargo containers or shipping containers, then even at lowpenetration rates a given yard may have a number of cameras. Forexample, even at penetration rates of 1%, 5% or 10%, a yard that has ahundred or a thousand shipping containers will have many cameras thatare available for container location and mapping.

Due to the nature of the storage yard 110, the cameras would likely bedistributed around the yard. Further, since shipping containers may bestacked or parallel or perpendicular or at other angles to each other,the image capture mechanism may provide various angles to allow for acomprehensive container location mapping and verification system, asdescribed below.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3. which shows one example architecturethat may be utilized in accordance with the present disclosure. Inparticular, the example architecture of FIG. 3 has three movable imagesensor apparatuses, namely image sensor apparatus 310, image sensorapparatus 312, and image sensor apparatus 314.

Further, a plurality of fixed image sensor apparatus may exist withinthe network in some embodiments. These are shown, for example, as fixedsensor apparatus 320 and fixed sensor apparatus 322.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the movable sensor apparatuses 310, 312 and314 communicate through an access point 330 or base station 332, andthereby can communicate over a wide area network such as the Internet334. In other embodiments, the movable sensor apparatuses 310, 312 and314 may communicate through other mechanisms over Internet 334, such asa fixed connection or any other wired or wireless communications.

Further, fixed sensor apparatus 320 and fixed sensor apparatus 322 maycommunicate with access point 330 or base station 332 in someembodiments. In other embodiments, the fixed sensor apparatus 320 and/orfixed sensor apparatus 322 may communicate through other mechanisms overInternet 334, such as a fixed connection or any other wired or wirelesscommunications.

While the embodiment of FIG. 3 only shows one access point 330, in otherembodiments a plurality of access points may be provided within acontainer yard.

Further, the information from any of sensor apparatus 310, 312, 314, 320and 322 may be provided to one or more servers 340 or 342. For example,if the sensor apparatus 310 and 312 belong to a first company, suchapparatus may communicate with a first company's server 340. Sensorapparatus 314 may belong to a second company and may thereforecommunicate with a second company's server 342.

In other embodiments, a single company may have a plurality of servers.A server, central server, processing service, endpoint, Uniform ResourceIdentifier (URI), Uniform Resource Locator (URL), back-end, and/orprocessing system may be used interchangeably in the descriptionsherein. The server functionality typically represents dataprocessing/reporting that are not closely tied to the location ofmovable image capture apparatuses 310, 312, 314, etc. For example, theserver may be located essentially anywhere so long as it has networkaccess (e.g., 334) to communicate with image capture apparatuses 310,312, 314, etc.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, the variousfixed or mobile sensor apparatuses may also communicate with each other.Thus, apparatus 310 may communicate directly with apparatus 312 orapparatus 314 in some embodiments. Further, apparatus 310 maycommunicate with fixed apparatus 320 or 322 in some embodiments.

Further, the owners of the servers 340 and 342 may have agreements toallow communication between such servers.

The example architecture of FIG. 3 is merely provided for illustrationpurposes and is not limiting to any particular apparatus orarchitecture. For example, in some cases apparatus 310 may only be ableto communicate with apparatus 312 since they are owned by the samecompany. In other cases, apparatus 310 could communicate with apparatus314 if there is an agreement for security purposes. In other cases,apparatus 310 may not be able to communicate directly with apparatus 322since the distance between the two may be too far to allow for suchcommunications.

In other cases, apparatus 310 may be out of range of access point 330and may therefore utilize another apparatus such as apparatus 312 as arelay for providing information to server 340.

As described above, in many cases, an image sensor apparatus may be alimited power device. For example, the device may operate using abattery. Because of the limited power, the image sensor apparatus doesnot continually capture images. Continual image capture would drain thebattery far too quickly and provide information which may not berelevant most the time. Thus, in accordance with the embodimentsdescribed herein, a sensor apparatus may act based on a trigger. Asdescribed below, the trigger may be an indication from other sensors ofthe sensor apparatus that the container has stopped moving for athreshold time period, a message from a network node or another sensorapparatus requesting image data, among other options.

Preliminarily data on the location of a container may be based on manualmapping, rough GPS fixes, or based on dynamic mapping. In accordancewith a first embodiment of the present disclosure, a network server maybuild a map of a shipping yard that may be dynamically updated overtime. Such map may, for example, be used as a preliminary location toolto find a particular shipping container.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which shows a process at an imagesensor apparatus on a shipping container to facilitate the creation of amap. The process of FIG. 4 starts at block 410 and proceeds to block 412in which a check is made to determine whether a trigger condition hasbeen met. In particular, the map may need to be updated oncepreconditions are met. For example, if the shipping container hasstopped moving for a threshold period of time, for example 15 minutes,then this may indicate that the shipping container is in its finalposition and thus a cause a trigger to capture images. In other cases,supplemental information such as global positioning system data may befurther used with the trigger conditions to ensure that the shippingcontainer is within a trailer yard. Thus, if the shipping container hasentered into a geofenced area around the shipping yard, this mayindicate that the image capture may be needed. Conversely, if thetrailer is located outside of the geofenced area then the shippingcontainer stopping for 15 minutes may merely indicate that the driver isa rest period at a rest station or at a location outside the shippingyard and therefore image capture may not be required. Other examples oftriggers are possible.

If the threshold is not met at block 412, the process proceeds back toblock 412 and continues to loop until a threshold condition is met.

From block 412, once the threshold condition is met, the processproceeds to block 420 in which the sensor apparatus may capture animage.

The process then proceeds to block 422 in which the sensor apparatususes its communication system to send the image to a server. Inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, othersupplemental data may also be sent to a server. Supplemental data atblock 422 may include various information, including identifyinginformation for the image sensor apparatus, a last GPS fix captured bythe apparatus, or the direction that the container is facing for examplederived from an internal compass type sensor on the image captureapparatus, among other information. However, in some cases nosupplements information is provided.

From block 422 the process then proceeds to block 430 and ends.

On the server side, the server may maintain a map and dynamically updatethe map based on image capture data from a plurality of image sensorapparatuses. Specifically, the process at the server is shown withregard to FIG. 5 and starts at block 510. The process then proceeds toblock 512 in which the image data, as well as potentially supplementaldata, is received at the server.

The process then proceeds to block 520 in which the image data may beused to determine the location of the container. The step at block 520may involve providing information on a user interface of a computingdevice to have an operator determine from various information within theimage the location of the trailer. Such information may, for example,include images of fixed structures, other containers within the imagethat have a known location, among other such information. Further,supplemental information such as the position data or the bearing dataof the image sensor may be used to narrow the possible locations of suchcontainer.

In other embodiments, the step at block 520 may use optical recognitionor other automatic processing to determine the location of thecontainer. For example, such optical recognition may use opticalcharacter recognition to determine the neighboring shipping containersbased on identification printed on such shipping containers. Further,the optical recognition may utilize a database of images of known fixedstructures within such container yard in order to determine the locationof the container in question. Optical recognition may be supplementedwith the supplemental data to focus the image processing.

In either the human or automatic processing of the image, the use of theneighboring trailers may use, in some embodiments, two or more trailersto be identified and correlated with map data stored on the server. Thismay be used to ensure that a neighboring trailer has not been moved andis thus producing an incorrect location result.

From block 520, the process may optionally proceed to block 522 in whichimage processing is used on the remainder of the image to verify thelocation of other containers. For example, if an image contains data forsix containers, if one of such containers is not in its anticipatedlocation, the processing at block 522 may identify the new location ofsuch container and update the map within the server to provide thecorrect location of such container.

From block 520 or block 522, the process may proceed to block 530 inwhich the map data within the server is updated.

The process then proceeds to block 540 and ends.

In some embodiments, the maintenance of the map at the server mayrequest image information from various image sensor apparatusesperiodically to ensure map integrity.

In other cases, map data may be updated upon dispatching a shuntvehicle.

Once a trailer needs to be obtained from the yard, a shunt vehicle maybe dispatched to obtain the trailer. However, prior to the dispatchingof such a shunt vehicle, the location of the trailer may be verified.

The verification of the location of the container may be done utilizinga map as created in the embodiments described with regard to FIGS. 4 and5 above, or may be based on manual mapping, GPS data or other locationbased techniques if no such map exists. However, prior to dispatch, theverification of the location of the container is made.

Reference is now made to FIG. 6, which shows a process at a sensorapparatus device for use with the verification of the location of thecontainer. The process of FIG. 6 starts at block 610 and proceeds toblock 612 in which the image sensor apparatus may receive a request tocapture an image. As will be appreciated, the image sensor apparatus mayhave a communication system which does not continuously listen to acommunication channel. This may be done to save battery resources on thedevice if the device is a power limited device.

Therefore, the image sensor apparatus may periodically wake up the radioon the device to listen for requests and then resume a sleep state if norequest is received during the opportunity window.

The request received at block 612 may come from a server, directlythrough an access point that the image sensor apparatus has registeredwith in some embodiments. In other embodiments, a second image sensorapparatus may be used as a relay, for example if the image sensorapparatus in question is out of coverage of an access point.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6, a request is received during theopportunity window at block 612 and the process proceeds to block 620 inwhich an image capture occurs.

The process then proceeds to block 630 in which the captured image, andoptionally other supplemental information such as bearing or GPSlocation, may be returned to the server. The process then proceeds toblock 640 and ends.

At the server, an example process is shown with regard to FIG. 7. Theprocess of FIG. 7 starts at block 710 and proceeds to block 712 in whichan image request is made to a particular image sensor apparatus. Suchimage request may be continually or periodically made until a responseis received.

A response to the image request is received at block 720. The responseincludes the received image and may include other supplementalinformation.

The process then proceeds from block 720 to block 730 in which the imageis processed. Such image processing may, for example, merely compare theimage received at block 720 with a previously stored image that wascreated, for example during a mapping process. If the images match, thenthe location of the shipping container has not changed. It should benoted that other factors within the image may change, such as thelighting, or the location of some of the shipping containers in the viewof the image capture apparatus. However, if the image processing atblock 730 determines the two images are sufficiently similar then it canbe assumed that the location has been maintained.

From block 730 the process proceeds to block 740 in which a check ismade to determine whether the container is in the expected location. Ifnot, the process may then proceed to block 742 in which the location ofthe container is determined. For example, such determination at block742 can be similar to the determination made at block 520 of FIG. 5.

From block 740, if the container is in the expected location, or basedon the new location determined at block 742, the process proceeds toblock 750 in which the shunt vehicle is dispatched to the now verifiedlocation of the shipping container. The process then proceeds to block760 and ends.

In other embodiments, the target container may not have an image captureapparatus, or the image capture apparatus on the container may beobscured for some reason. In this case, in addition to or instead ofcapturing the image from the target container itself, image capture mayoccur based on surrounding sensor apparatuses.

For example, a shipping yard may maintain a map such as a map shown atFIG. 8, indicating the various sensor apparatuses that exist, includingpotentially the bearing of such sensor apparatuses. Referring to FIG. 8,the direction of each sensor apparatus 810 is shown. Therefore, based oneither the mapping created with regard to FIGS. 4 and 5, or based onmanual mapping or GPS data, a location or potential location of theshipping container can be provided on such map. This is shown withregard to potential location 812 on the map of FIG. 8.

An operator or the computer itself may then determine which imagecapture apparatuses may have the target shipping container in thepotential field of view and make a request to such image captureapparatuses 820 to capture an image to verify the potential location812. In some cases, only one image sensor apparatus may be asked tocapture an image. In other cases, a plurality of image sensorapparatuses may be asked to capture images and such image data may bespliced together or compared.

Processing of a request for image capture from image sensor apparatuses820 at each image sensor apparatus may use the process of FIG. 6.

With regard to network functionality, reference is now made to FIG. 9,which shows a process of a server for utilizing other containers to finda container of interest.

The process of FIG. 9 starts at block 910 and proceeds to block 912 inwhich the one or more sensor apparatuses are requested to capture animage.

Each of the sensor apparatuses that are requested to capture an imagewould then perform the process of FIG. 6 to capture and return the imageand the image would be received at block 920 in the embodiment of FIG.9. If a plurality of images are requested, each would be received atblock 920.

From block 920 the process proceeds to block 930 in which the image orimages are processed to determine whether the desired container iswithin the field of view and thus at its anticipated location. The imageprocessing may be done by a human operator or automatically usingoptical recognition to look for markings on the exterior of the desiredcontainer. The container markings for a desired container wouldtypically be known at the server.

The process then proceeds to block 940 in which a check is made todetermine whether the container is found. If the container is found thenthe process may proceed to block 942 in which a shunt vehicle may bedispatched to the location of the container, the process may thenproceed to block 944 and end.

Conversely, if the container is not found in the image or imagesreceived at block 920, the process may proceed to block 950 in which thescope of the search may be expanded. In particular, at block 950 otherimage capture apparatuses may be identified to help determine thelocation of the shipping container. Such identification may, forexample, identify a threshold distance or radius from the anticipatedlocation and use all image sensor apparatuses within such distance. Inother cases, the search may be directionally focused, and identifydevices on a certain bearing from the anticipated location. Otheroptions for selecting image sensor apparatuses are possible.

From block 950, the process may proceed back to block 912 in which eachidentified image sensor apparatus is requested to perform an imagecapture. In this way, the process may then proceed back through blocks912, 920 and 930 to process the additional images that were captured anda check may be made again at block 940 to determine whether thecontainer was found.

If the container is still not found, then the scope of the search mayagain be expanded at block 950 and process may continue to loop in thisway until the container is found, until images have been captured by allimage sensor apparatuses, or until some maximum search criteria are met.

If the container is found, a map may be updated and the process proceedsto block 942 in which the shunt vehicle is dispatched to the verifiedlocation of the container.

Using the above, the shunt vehicles is only dispatched to a locationafter confirming that the container is where it is expected. This savesvarious resources, including time, fuel and enhances the operation of ashipping yard.

The server performing the embodiments above may be any network basedserver or combination of servers. One simplified server that may be usedis provided with regards to FIG. 10.

In FIG. 10, server 1010 includes a processor 1020 and a communicationssubsystem 1030, where the processor 1020 and communications subsystem1030 cooperate to perform the methods of the embodiments describedherein.

Processor 1020 is configured to execute programmable logic, which may bestored, along with data, on server 1010, and shown in the example ofFIG. 10 as memory 1040. Memory 1040 can be any tangible, non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium, such as optical (e.g., CD, DVD, etc.),magnetic (e.g., tape), flash drive, hard drive, or other memory known inthe art.

Alternatively, or in addition to memory 1040, server 1010 may accessdata or programmable logic from an external storage medium, for examplethrough communications subsystem 1030.

Communications subsystem 1030 allows server 1010 to communicate withother devices or network elements.

Communications between the various elements of server 1010 may bethrough an internal bus 1060 in one embodiment. However, other forms ofcommunication are possible.

The embodiments described herein solve various issues. Specifically, theembodiments provide a low-cost solution since the image sensorapparatuses may already be part of containers, on vehicles or in otherfixed situations. In the shipping yard example, the yard is typicallycovered relatively well since such shipping containers tend to getrandomly distributed.

The embodiments described may provide image capture for various angles,increasing chances of finding a shipping container prior to dispatchinga shunt vehicle.

The embodiments described herein are examples of structures, systems ormethods having elements corresponding to elements of the techniques ofthis application. This written description may enable those skilled inthe art to make and use embodiments having alternative elements thatlikewise correspond to the elements of the techniques of thisapplication. The intended scope of the techniques of this applicationthus includes other structures, systems or methods that do not differfrom the techniques of this application as described herein, and furtherincludes other structures, systems or methods with insubstantialdifferences from the techniques of this application as described herein.

While operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order,this should not be understood as requiring that such operations beperformed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or thatall illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results.In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may beemployed. Moreover, the separation of various system components in theimplementation descried above should not be understood as requiring suchseparation in all implementations, and it should be understood that thedescribed program components and systems can generally be integratedtogether in a signal software product or packaged into multiple softwareproducts.

Also, techniques, systems, subsystems, and methods described andillustrated in the various implementations as discrete or separate maybe combined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, ormethods. Other items shown or discussed as coupled or directly coupledor communicating with each other may be indirectly coupled orcommunicating through some interface, device, or intermediate component,whether electrically, mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples ofchanges, substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilledin the art and may be made.

While the above detailed description has shown, described, and pointedout the fundamental novel features of the disclosure as applied tovarious implementations, it will be understood that various omissions,substitutions, and changes in the form and details of the systemillustrated may be made by those skilled in the art. In addition, theorder of method steps are not implied by the order they appear in theclaims.

When messages are sent to/from an electronic device, such operations maynot be immediate or from the server directly. They may be synchronouslyor asynchronously delivered, from a server or other computing systeminfrastructure supporting the devices/methods/systems described herein.The foregoing steps may include, in whole or in part,synchronous/asynchronous communications to/from thedevice/infrastructure. Moreover, communication from the electronicdevice may be to one or more endpoints on a network. These endpoints maybe serviced by a server, a distributed computing system, a streamprocessor, etc. Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) may also provide mayprovide communication to an electronic device. For example, rather thana typical server response, the server may also provision or indicate adata for content delivery network (CDN) to await download by theelectronic device at a later time, such as a subsequent activity ofelectronic device. Thus, data may be sent directly from the server, orother infrastructure, such as a distributed infrastructure, or a CDN, aspart of or separate from the system.

Typically, storage mediums can include any or some combination of thefollowing: a semiconductor memory device such as a dynamic or staticrandom access memory (a DRAM or SRAM), an erasable and programmableread-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable and programmableread-only memory (EEPROM) and flash memory; a magnetic disk such as afixed, floppy and removable disk; another magnetic medium includingtape; an optical medium such as a compact disk (CD) or a digital videodisk (DVD); or another type of storage device. Note that theinstructions discussed above can be provided on one computer-readable ormachine-readable storage medium, or alternatively, can be provided onmultiple computer-readable or machine-readable storage media distributedin a large system having possibly plural nodes. Such computer-readableor machine-readable storage medium or media is (are) considered to bepart of an article (or article of manufacture). An article or article ofmanufacture can refer to any manufactured single component or multiplecomponents. The storage medium or media can be located either in themachine running the machine-readable instructions, or located at aremote site from which machine-readable instructions can be downloadedover a network for execution.

In the foregoing description, numerous details are set forth to providean understanding of the subject disclosed herein. However,implementations may be practiced without some of these details. Otherimplementations may include modifications and variations from thedetails discussed above. It is intended that the appended claims coversuch modifications and variations.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method at a server for container locationverification within a container yard, the method comprising: requestingimage data from at least one image sensor apparatus affixed to acontainer within the container yard; receiving the image data, the imagedata comprising a location of the image sensor apparatus and a directionthe image sensor apparatus is facing; and processing the image data toidentify a location within the container yard of a target containerbased on the location of the image sensor apparatus and the directionthe image sensor apparatus is facing, wherein the image data is from theimage sensor apparatus on the target container, and wherein theprocessing identifies at least one of landmarks and neighboringcontainers.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing usesoptical recognition to identify markings on neighboring containers. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the image data is from a neighboringcontainer to the target container, and wherein the processing usesoptical recognition to identify markings on the target container.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the processing comprises displaying the imagedata on a user interface and receiving an input using the userinterface.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, verifying thelocation of the target container and dispatching a shunt vehicle for thetarget container.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein if the processingdoes not find the target container, the method further comprisingsearching for the target container, the searching comprising:identifying at least one image sensor apparatus; obtaining image datafrom the at least one image sensor apparatus; and processing the imagedata to determine whether an image of the target container is within theimage data.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the identifying comprisesfinding image sensor apparatuses within a threshold distance of ananticipated location of the target container.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein the threshold distance is increased if the image of the targetcontainer is not found within the image data.
 9. The method of claim 1,further comprising receiving image data from a plurality of image sensorapparatuses; and dynamically updating a map of the container yard basedon information with the received image data.
 10. A server configured forcontainer location verification within a container yard, the servercomprising: a processor; and a communications subsystem, wherein theserver is configured to: request image data from at least one imagesensor apparatus affixed to a container within the container yard;receive the image data, the image data comprising a location of theimage sensor apparatus and a direction the image sensor apparatus isfacing; and process the image data to identify a location within thecontainer yard of a target container based on the location of the imagesensor apparatus and the direction the image sensor apparatus is facing,wherein the image data is from the image sensor apparatus on the targetcontainer, and wherein the processing identifies at least one oflandmarks and neighboring containers.
 11. The server of claim 10,wherein the processing uses optical recognition to identify markings onneighboring containers.
 12. The server of claim 10, wherein the imagedata is from a neighboring container to the target container, andwherein the processing uses optical recognition to identify markings onthe target container.
 13. The server of claim 10, wherein the server isconfigured to process by displaying the image data on a user interfaceand receive an input using the user interface.
 14. The server of claim10, wherein the server is further configured to verify the location ofthe target container and dispatch a shunt vehicle for the targetcontainer.
 15. The server of claim 10, wherein, if the server duringprocessing does not find the target container, the server is furtherconfigured to search for the target container, the searching comprising:identifying at least one image sensor apparatus; obtaining image datafrom the at least one image sensor apparatus; and processing the imagedata to determine whether an image of the target container is within theimage data.
 16. The server of claim 15, wherein the server is configuredto identify by finding image sensor apparatuses within a thresholddistance of an anticipated location of the target container.
 17. Theserver of claim 16, wherein the threshold distance is increased if theimage of the target container is not found within the image data. 18.The server of claim 10, wherein the server is further configured toreceive image data from a plurality of image sensor apparatuses; anddynamically update a map of the container yard based on information withthe received image data.
 19. A non-transitory computer readable mediumfor storing instruction code, which when executed by a processor of aserver configured for container location verification within a containeryard cause the server to: request image data from at least one imagesensor apparatus affixed to a container within the container yard;receive the image data, the image data comprising a location of theimage sensor apparatus and a direction the image sensor apparatus isfacing; and process the image data to identify a location within thecontainer yard of a target container based on the location of the imagesensor apparatus and the direction the image sensor apparatus is facing,wherein the image data is from the image sensor apparatus on the targetcontainer, and wherein the processing identifies at least one oflandmarks and neighboring containers.